Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum suffered a right achilles injury during the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks. While he was able to undergo surgery just hours later (h/t Noa Dalzell of SB Nation), which was a nearly unprecedented best-case scenario, Tatum is still expected to miss most, if not all of next season.
One round earlier in the NBA Playoffs, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard suffered the same injury on his other leg. Tearing his left achilles, Lillard was sidelined for the remainder of Milwaukee's short-lived postseason run, and will also miss most, if not all of next season.
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0)
© Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Tatum and Lillard are two of the NBA's best players and have been competing against each other for years. On Monday, Tatum reshared a post from Lillard on his Instagram story that showed the two sharing an embrace. The Celtics star added a two-word message.
"My dawg," Tatum captioned his story post.
Along with the mutual respect these two stars have as opponents, they now share similar injury rehab timelines as they recover from nearly identical injuries. Lillard, 34, is much older than the 27-year-old Tatum. That said, there are recent success stories of NBA players returning from achilles injuries and still being productive.
For now, both Tatum and Lillard are very early in the recovery process. Their respective teams have big decisions to make this offseason, and those are certainly made more difficult by having a superstar player likely out for the entire year.
Milwaukee was eliminated in the opening round by the Indiana Pacers, while Boston lost in the conference semifinals to New York.